Abstract
The increased quantities of glycerol available on the market initiated research efforts oriented to new valorization technologies, particularly by its conversion into medium tonnage chemicals, replacing petroleum derivatives. In this work it was investigated the valorization of glycerol by its transformation in glycerol acetates, by direct esterification with acetic acid, over a commercial Amberlyst-35 resin. Experiments were carried out batch-wise, in an autoclave reactor under controlled working conditions, at temperatures between 95 and 112 oC and initial acetic acid to glycerol molar ratios between 4 and 9. The experimental data evidenced that the glycerol conversion to monoacetate is faster than the next esterification steps. A relatively simple kinetic model was proposed and its parameters were evaluated from the experimental measurements. It proved reasonable predicting capacity for products distribution dependencies on the reactants molar ratio and reaction temperature.
Highlights
The increased quantities of glycerol available on the market initiated research efforts oriented to new valorization technologies, by its conversion into medium tonnage chemicals, replacing petroleum derivatives
The glycerol is resulting as a byproduct from the triglycerides transesterification with alcohols in the aim of biodiesel production, a process largely practiced in the last period
The influences of temperature and reactant molar ratio on diacetin and triacetin yields are presented in figures 2 to 5
Summary
The increased quantities of glycerol available on the market initiated research efforts oriented to new valorization technologies, by its conversion into medium tonnage chemicals, replacing petroleum derivatives. In this work it was investigated the valorization of glycerol by its transformation in glycerol acetates, by direct esterification with acetic acid, over a commercial Amberlyst-35 resin. The rise of biodiesel production registered in the last decades conducted to the increase of glycerol availability and decline of its selling price This increased supply of glycerol on the market triggered efforts to find new valorization technologies, by its conversion into medium tonnage chemicals, replacing petroleum derivatives.
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